left :
1 November 1935 - the programme cover for the very first game at
Empress
Stadium.

The text reads "With the exception only of the
representatives of the Royal House of Windsor, we have with us to-night
the foremost International Sporting Personality of to-day, THE EARL OF
LONSDALE, G.C.V.O., D.L., Bart., who, with his customary graciousness, has
accepted the invitation to perform the opening ceremony.".

Hugh Cecil Lowther (1857-1944) was the 5th Earl of Lonsdale. He was an
avid sportsman and was known as 'England's greatest sporting gentleman'.
He donated the original Lonsdale Belts for boxing. His name was given to a
clothing brand of boxing garments worn by Muhammad Ali. He was a keen
football fan and was chairman of Arsenal Football Club for a brief period
in 1936 (having previously been a club director). He later became the
club's Honorary President.